Locomotive-headlight.



C. H. WALTER. LQCOMOTIVE HEADLIGHT.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 21, 1913.

Patented May 26, 1914.

INVEITITORD WlTN ATTO R N EY CHARLES H. WALTER, 0F CONNELLSVILLE, ?ENNSYLVANIA.

LOCOMOTIVE-IEADLIGHT.

Specification ofLetters Patent.

Application filed. October 21, 1913. Serial No. 796,466.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, CHARLES H. WALTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Connellsville, in the county of Fayette and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Locomotive-Headlight, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in locomotive headlights, and its object is to produce an automatic arrangement whereby the headlight will maintain the proper relation to the center of the track when the locomotive is rounding curves.

In accordance with the present invention the headlight casing incloses a gravity device which acts as the locomotive tips in rounding curves and to an extent commensurate with the degree of curvature, to maintain the beam of light emitted by the headlight on the center of the track instead of being more or less tangent to the curved track as occurs with headlights fixed to the locomotive.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a partof this specification, with the further understanding that while the drawings show a practical formof the invention, the latter is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawings, but may be changed and modified so long as such changes and modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a central vertical section with parts in elevation, of a headlight embodying the present invention. Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 2 but drawn on a smaller scale and showing the headlight turned upon a supporting axis. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the headlight as seen in Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings there is shown a casing 1 which is to be considered as similar to ordinary locomotive head light casings and within this casing there is mounted a light-giving element 2,-indicated as an ordinary incandescent electric lamp, but it will be understood that the showing of the drawings is indicative of any suitable source of light customarily employed in locomotive headlights. The light giving element 2 is indicated as at the focal point of a reflector 3 designed to project a beam of light ahead of the locomotive at night.

Patented May as, rare.

The casing 1 is mounted on a post i erected on a support 5 which in locomotives is customarily in the shape of a bracket and participates in movements; of, the locomotive. The post i is held to the bracket or other support 5 by a nut 6 or in any other suitable manner and is located with reference to the casing 1 at a point back of the center of the casing, that is, on the opposite'side of the center from the reflector 3. In practice the post a is upright when the locomotive is on a level track and at the upper end the post is laterally expanded to form a circumferential ledge or flange 7 in which there is formed a raceway for anti-friction balls 8 or other suitable anti-friction devices. The central portion of the post is continued above the ledge? in the form.- of a spindle 9. This spindle constitutes a pivot support for a bevel gear pinion 10 fast to the inner wall of the top of the casing by scerws 11 or otherwise, and this bevel pinion is formed on the smaller end with a raceway for the antifriction balls 8. The spindle 9 may be continued throughjand above the top of the casing, but this is not obligatory. At the lower end the spindle is reduced to form a stem 12 carried through the bottom of the casing and through the bracket 5 and suitably threaded to receive the nut 6, while a washer l3 is interposed between the bottom of the casing and the bracket 5, and this washer may or may not sustain some of the weight of the casing. It serves, however, to prevent the entrance into the casing of dust or dirt at this point; The stem 12 may be long enough to extend for a distance into the casing, and surrounding this stem 12 is a collar 14 which 'may rest upon the inner face of the bottom of the casing. The post 4: constitutes a fixed pivotal support for the casing 1 about which the casing may turn, and this post is located closer to the back end of the casing than to the front end, wherefore the front end of the casing will move through a greater arc than the rear end.

Traversing the post t near its upper end is a shaft 15 upon which is secured close'to the post a bevel gear wheel 16 meshing with the pinion 10, while on the other side of the post a nut 17 or other suitable holding means is applied to the shaft to prevent lengthwise movement thereof, but so as not to interfere with the rotation of the shaft. Hung from opposite ends of the shaft are pendent rods 18, 19, respectively, the rod 18 carrying at its lower end a weight 20 and the rod 1:) carrying at its lower end a weight 21, the weight 20 being lighter than the wei ht 21.

Let it be assumed that a locomotive is equipped with a headlight constructed in accordance with the present invention, then when the locomotive is on a level track without sidewise pitch, the arrangement is such that the weights 20 and 21 maintain the rods 18 and 19 substantially vertical, and in this position the gear wheel 16 holds the pinion 10 and with it the casing 1 in the longitudinal center line of the locomotive, and a beam of light issues from the headlight straight in front of the locomotive, illuminating the track which is also assumed to be straight. Suppose, now, that the loco motive reaches a curve. As is customary, one side of the track is more elevated than the other on curves, and consequently the locomotive tips accordingly, whereupon the weights 20 and 21 tending at all times to keep the rods 18 and 19 vertical move toward the lower side of the engine, thus turning the shaft 15 and with it the gear wheel 16, and this is so related to the pinion 10 fast to the casing 1 that the pinion and with it the casing is rotated on the longitudinal axis of the post 1- for a distance suflicient to cause the beam of light issuing from the headlight to strike the curved track at about the middle thereof instead of approximately tangent thereto as would occur were the headlight maintained at all times in the center line of the locomotive. .Vhen the engine again reaches a level track it is no longer tipped since both sides of the track are on one level and consequently the wei hts QO'and 21 tending at all times to hold the rods 18 and 19 vertical cause the head. light casing to move back to its first position. This operation occurs whenever a curve is reached and the beam of light is thereby maintained in the desired relation to the portion of the track approached by the engine.

Since the post is located back of the center of the headlight casing that portion of the casing in front of the post is heavier than that to the rear thereof, and tends to bend the post toward the front of the casing. To overcome this tendency the weight 21 is made heavier than the Weight 20, thus equalizing the strain upon the post.

The operating mechanism is wholly inclosed in the headlight casing, thus materially condensing the space occupied by the structure, and, moreover, pro iding a means whereby the automatically operated actuating mechanism may be protected from access of dust and dirt, and, therefore, maintain its ready response to the tipping of the engine for an indefinite time.

The whole structure may be arranged so as to occupy a space but little if any larger than an ordinary locomotive headlight, while the operating mechanism is not only fully protected from injury due to access of dust or dirt, but is also reduced to a minimum of parts and consequently is of extremely simple construction.

VJ hat is claimed is l. A locomotive headlight comprising a casing having a pivotal support extending into the casing, light producing means within the casing constructed for the emission of light from one end of said casing, and gravity responsive means mounted on the pivotal support and constructed to turn the casing together with the light producing means therein on the pivotal support in a direction corresponding to tipping of the support.

2. A locomotive headlight comprising a casing with light giving means at one end, a pivotal support for the casing on the side of the center of the casing remote from the light emitting portion of the headlight, and gravity responsive means housed in the casing and constructed to act thereon to turn the casing on its pivotal support.

3. A headlight comprising a casing inclosing light giving means, a pivotal support entering the casing nearer one end thereof than the other, and gravity responsive means provided with weighted members on opposite sides of the pivotal support and connected to the casing to cause the latter to turn on its support on the tipping of the latter, the gravity responsive means on the side of the pivotal support remote from the center of the casin g being heavier than that toward the center of the casing.

4. A locomotive headlight comprising a casing, an upright pivotal support traversing the casing, a gear element mounted on the upper end of the upright support and fast to the casing, a rotatable shaft traversing the pivotal support and provided with a gear element in operative relation to the first-named gear element, and gravity members carried by the shaft and movable on the tipping of the pivotal support to impart movement to the casing about the longitudinal axis of the pivotal support.

5. A locomotive headlight comprising a casing, an upright pivotal support traversing the casing, a gear element mounted on the upper end of the upright support and fast to the casing, a rotatable shaft traversing the pivotal support and provided with a gear element in operative relation to the first-named gear element, and gravity members carried by the shaft and movable on the tipping of the pivotal support to impart movement to the casing about the longitudinal axis of the pivotal support, said gravity members being located on opposite sides of the pivotal support.

6. A locomotive headlight comprising a casing inclosing light giving and reflecting means, a pivotal support for and traversing the casing at a point on the side of the center of the casing remote from that from which light issues, a bevel pinion on the pivotal support and fast to the casing, a shaft traversing the support within the easing, a bevel gear wheel mounted on the shaft within the casing and meshing with the pinion, pendent rods fast to the shaft on opposite sides of the pivotal support, andweights at the lower ends of the rods.

7. A locomotive headlight comprising a casing inclosing light giving and reflecting means, a pivotal support for and traversing the casing at a point on the side of the center of the casing remote from that from which light issues, a bevel pinion on the pivotal support and fast to the casing, a shaft traversing the support within the casing, a bevel gear wheel mounted on the shaft within the casing and meshing with the pinion, pendent rods fast to the shaft on opposite sides of the'pivotal support, and weights at the lower ends of the rods, the weight on the rod toward the center of the casing being less than the other weight.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES H. WALTER.

Witnesses:

Ross Gr. M LLER, J. B. KURTZ.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Eatents. Washington, D. C. 

